E-ALERT Anti-Corruption

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1 E-ALERT Anti-Corruption November 6, 2014 DRAFT AMENDMENTS TO CHINA S CRIMINAL LAW WOULD BROADEN LEGAL TOOLS IN FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION On November 3, 2014, China s legislature released for public comment draft amendments to China s Criminal Law ( the ), a number of which broaden and strengthen crimes and penalties related to bribery and corruption. The public comment period ends on December 3, 2014, and China s legislature is expected to vote on these amendments thereafter. Commentators do not expect significant changes before enactment. This e-alert summarizes the key proposed amendments related to bribery and corruption. 1. Raise the bar for bribe-givers to be exempted from punishment. Article 390 of the current Criminal Law provides that [a]ny briber who, before he is investigated for criminal responsibility, voluntarily confesses his act of offering bribes may be given a mitigated punishment or exempted from punishment. 1 The would retain the voluntary confession requirement and add other requirements for exemption from punishment: one whose crimes are relatively minor may be exempted from punishment, if by exposing corrupt activities of others he provided crucial information leading to the successful investigation of a major case, or he performed other major meritorious service Add a new crime of offering bribes to close relatives of State functionaries. The Draft Amendments would add a crime (as Article 388b) of offering bribes to any of the close relatives of a State functionary or other persons closely related to that State functionary; or any ex-state functionary, their close relatives or other persons closely related to them. 3 In 2009, the Criminal Law was amended to expand the scope of bribe-receivers to include close relatives and individuals with close relationships with State functionaries and ex-state functionaries. 4 However, that amendment did not impose criminal penalties on the bribegivers. The would expand the categories of bribe-givers to parallel the categories of bribe-receivers. 3. Add monetary fines to various corruption/bribery-related crimes. Under the current version of the Criminal Law, fines are imposed for corrupt activities only on legal entities, with one exception: 5 fines are imposed on individual bribe-givers only when (1) bribing an employee of a company or enterprise, or to a foreign party performing official duties or an official of international public organizations; and (2) the amount involved is huge. The Draft Amendments would impose monetary fines against nearly all individuals that are convicted of engaging in corruption and bribery offences, in addition to other punishments. 6 Fines as punishment for individuals are added to: Article 164, when the amount involved is relatively large ; Article 383, which criminalizes the acts of embezzlement; Article 388b, a new provision proposed by the as described above; Article 390, which criminalizes the acts of offering bribes; Article 391, which criminalizes any person or legal entity who gives money or property to a State organ, State-owned company, enterprise, institution or people s BEIJING BRUSSELS LONDON NEW YORK SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SEOUL SHANGHAI SILICON VALLEY WASHINGTON

2 organization, or, in economic activities, violates State regulations by giving rebates or service charges of various descriptions; Article 392, which criminalizes any person who introduces a bribe to a State functionary; and Article 393, which criminalizes any legal entity that offers bribes for the purpose of securing illegitimate benefits or, is in violation of State regulations, gives rebates or service charges to a State functionary. 4. Modify the sentencing standards for the crimes of embezzlement and receiving bribes. The existing sentencing standards (Articles 383 and 386) impose prison sentences based on the specific value of the property that they embezzled or received. The amounts are divided into four categories: (1) more than RMB 100,000 (ten years to death penalty), (2) more than RMB 50,000 but less than RMB 100,000 (more than five years), (3) more than RMB 5,000 but less than RMB 50,000 (one to ten years), and (4) less than RMB 5,000 (less than two years). 7 The would eliminate the amount-based standards and allocate punishment on more general criteria: (1) a relatively large amount or relatively serious circumstances (less than three years); (2) a huge amount or serious circumstances (three to ten years), and (3) an especially huge amount or especially serious circumstances (ten years to death penalty). 8 The do not include guidance on how courts should apply the new standards, and a judicial interpretation may later be issued with clarifications. Some commentators have noted that the current amounts, which were first established in 1997, did not reflect changes in inflation or cost of living, and that the proposed changes would also give prosecutors and courts more discretion. 5. Possible employment bans for corruption convictions. In situation where one received criminal punishment for taking advantage of his/her position or violating the obligations of one s profession, a court has the discretion to bar him/her from engaging in related profession for five years after completing his/her prison sentence, or for five years after release on parole. 9 The chart attached below compares the existing Criminal Law and corruption-related modifications proposed by the. The legislative changes proposed by the support the Chinese government s ongoing campaign against corruption, bribery, and graft. If you have any questions concerning the material discussed in this client alert, please contact the following China-focused members of our Global Anti-Corruption Practice Group: Eric Carlson Hui Xu Chaohui Liang Victor Wu This information is not intended as legal advice. Readers should seek specific legal advice before acting with regard to the subjects mentioned herein. In an increasingly regulated world, Covington & Burling LLP provides corporate, litigation, and regulatory expertise to help clients navigate through their most complex business problems, deals and disputes. Founded in 1919, the firm has more than 800 lawyers in offices in Beijing, Brussels, London, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, and Washington. This communication is intended to bring relevant developments to our clients and other interested colleagues. Please send an to if you do not wish to receive future s or electronic alerts Covington & Burling LLP. All rights reserved. 2

3 None currently (Would be added as Article 37a) Where one receives criminal punishment for taking advantage of his/her position or violating the obligations of one s profession, the People s Court can, according to the situation and the need of preventing repetition of crimes, bar him/her from engaging in related professions for five years after completing his/her sentence, or for five years after release on parole. Whoever violates the decision of the People s Court prohibiting the person from engaging in related professions based on the previous paragraph, shall be punished by public security organ; where the circumstances are serious, the person shall be convicted and punished according to Article 313 of this Law. Where prohibitions or restrictions are otherwise provided by other laws or administrative rules and regulations, those provisions shall prevail. Whoever, for the purpose of seeking any employee of a company, enterprise or other entity, if the amount involved is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention; if the amount involved is huge, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years and shall also be fined. (Article 164, paragraph 1) Persons who commit the crime of embezzlement shall be punished respectively in the light of the seriousness of the circumstances and in accordance with the following provisions: (1) An individual who embezzles not less than 100,000 yuan shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment and may also be sentenced to confiscation of property; if the circumstances are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to death and also to confiscation of property. (2) An individual who embezzles not less than 50,000 yuan but less than 100,000 yuan shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years and may also be Whoever, for the purpose of seeking any employee of a company, enterprise or other entity, if the amount involved is relatively large, of not more than three years or criminal detention and shall also be fined; if the amount involved is huge, he shall be sentenced to fixedterm imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years and shall also be fined. Persons who commit the crime of embezzlement shall be punished respectively in the light of the seriousness of the circumstances and in accordance with the following provisions: (1) Where the amount embezzled is relatively large or the circumstances are relatively serious, the person shall be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and shall also be fined. If the act does not constitute a crime, the person shall be subject to administrative sanctions by his work unit or by the competent authorities at a higher level. (2) Where the amount embezzled is huge or the circumstances are serious, the person shall 3

4 sentenced to confiscation of property; if the circumstances are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to life imprisonment and confiscation of property. (3) An individual who embezzles not less than 5,000 yuan but less than 50,000 yuan shall be less than one year but not more than seven years; if the circumstances are serious, he of not less than seven years but not more than 10 years. If an individual who embezzles not less than 5,000 yuan and less than 10,000 yuan, shows true repentance after committing the crime, and gives up the embezzled money of his own accord, he may be given a mitigated punishment or be exempted from criminal punishment but shall be subjected to administrative sanctions by his work unit or by the competent authorities at a higher level. (4) An individual who embezzles less than 5,000 yuan, if the circumstances are relatively serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years or criminal detention; if the circumstances are relatively minor, he shall be given administrative sanctions at the discretion of his work unit or of the competent authorities at a higher level. Whoever repeatedly commits the crime of embezzlement and goes unpunished shall be punished on the basis of the cumulative amount of money he has embezzled. (Article 383) None currently (Would be added as Article 388b) be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of more than three years but not more than ten years, and shall also be fined or sentenced to confiscation of property. (3) Where the amount embezzled is especially huge or the circumstances are especially serious, the person shall be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of more than ten years or life imprisonment, and shall be fined or sentenced to confiscation of property; where the amount is especially huge and causing especially heavy losses to the interests of the State and the people, the person shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or death penalty, and shall be sentenced to confiscation of property. Whoever repeatedly commits the crime of embezzlement and goes unpunished shall be punished on the basis of the cumulative amount of money he has embezzled. Whoever commits the crime described above, but truthfully confesses, sincerely regrets, voluntarily hands over the illicit gains and avoids or mitigates the damage caused, in the situation described in (1), may be given a lighter punishment, or mitigated punishment, or be exempted from punishment; in the situation described in (2) and (3), the person may be given a lighter punishment. Whoever, for the purpose of securing illegitimate benefits, offers bribes to any of the close relatives of a State functionary or other persons closely related to that State functionary, or to any of the leaving State functionaries, their close relatives or other persons closely related to them, shall be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years or criminal detention, and shall also be fined; if the circumstances are serious or heavy losses are caused to the interests of the State, then the person shall be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of more than two years but not more than five years, and shall also be fined; if the circumstances are especially serious or 4

5 especially heavy losses are caused to the interests of the State, then such person shall be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of more than five years but not more than ten years, and shall also be fined. Whoever commits the crime of offering bribes of not more than five years or criminal detention; whoever offers bribes to secure illegitimate benefits, if the circumstances are serious or if heavy losses are caused to the interests of the State, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than 10 years; if the circumstances are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment and may also be sentenced to confiscation of property. Any briber who, before he is investigated for criminal responsibility, voluntarily confesses his act of offering bribes may be given a mitigated punishment or exempted from punishment. (Article 390) Whoever, for the purpose of securing a State organ, State-owned company, enterprise, institution or people's organization or, in economic activities, violates State regulations by giving rebates or service charges of various descriptions shall be more than three years or criminal detention. (Article 391, paragraph 1) Whoever introduces a bribe to a State functionary, if the circumstances are serious, of not more than three years or criminal detention. (Article 392, paragraph 1) Where a unit offers bribes for the purpose of Whoever commits the crime of offering bribes of not more than five years or criminal detention, and shall also be fined; whoever offers bribes to secure illegitimate benefits, if the circumstances are serious or if heavy losses are caused to the interests of the State, shall be less than five years but not more than 10 years, and shall also be fined; if the circumstances are especially serious or especially heavy losses are caused to the interests of the State, he shall be less than 10 years or life imprisonment and shall also be fined or sentenced to confiscation of property. Any briber who, before he is investigated for criminal responsibility, voluntarily confesses his act of offering bribes may be given a lighter or mitigated punishment. One whose crimes are relatively minor may be exempted from punishment, if by exposing corrupt activities of others he provided crucial information leading to the successful investigation of a major case, or he performed other major meritorious service. Whoever, for the purpose of securing a State organ, State-owned company, enterprise, institution or people's organization or, in economic activities, violates State regulations by giving rebates or service charges of various descriptions shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and shall also be fined. Whoever introduces a bribe to a State functionary, if the circumstances are serious, of not more than three years or criminal detention, and shall also be fined. Where a unit offers bribes for the purpose of 5

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